The third weekend of April saw Reefton Distilling Co. welcome 30 people to witness the fill of their own private casks of Moonlight Creek Whisky. From families celebrating the birth of a grandchild, to business owners, sharebrokers, and top athletes, each person travelled to Reefton to mark the occasion of the laying down of their own Founder’s Cask.
Well-known for creating a stir in both the New Zealand and the international spirits sectors, with the creation of their international award-winning spirits, Reefton Distilling Co. commenced production of their Moonlight Creek Single Malt Whisky in September 2022.
As part of their offering, they are releasing 100 x 200L Moonlight Creek Single Malt Whisky Founder’s Casks to market, with cask owners invited to join the Reefton Distilling Co. family and share in the journey to create a whisky that they anticipate will stand with the world’s best.
The 30 individuals, some part of a group of friends who purchased as a syndicate, met with Founder Patsy Bass and her team for a guided tour of the facility. Each guest was offered the opportunity to sample the new make spirit, before participating in their own private cask fill.
The casks, which were sealed and then signed on site, rested for 24 hours before being transferred to the distillery’s maturation warehouse, where they will mature under the watchful eye of distillery manager Gareth Morgan and master distiller Andy Deuchars.
Founder and Chief Executive Patsy Bass said that it was “quite a weekend” with new cask owners making the time to stay over and explore Reefton and its surrounds, enjoying a round of golf, walking and hiking trails and the local food offerings.
“Our Founder’s Cask fill days are our favourites, as we get to share in the celebrations and laughter with each of the proud new owners. From milestone birthdays to the birth of new babies or corporate gifting, there are a raft of stories behind every cask.”
From 2025, the distillery will host an annual private cask owner event, allowing owners to sample the maturing whisky and appreciate the taste and changes in profile of the whisky over time, while networking with the other cask owners.
Each 200-litre cask is a journey into tradition, yet also a modern exploration of whisky.
Making whisky is an age-old tradition. It is a spirit made from the simplest of ingredients—malted barley, yeast, and water. However, the distillers’ art and the quality of the casks the spirit matures in elevate these modest elements into something truly sublime—a world-class single malt.
Reefton Distilling Co. have everything they need to create this golden spirit right on their doorstep. The West Coast of New Zealand’s abundant rainfall feeds some of the purest spring water in the world, and Reefton Distilling Co. use only the finest barley grown and malted in New Zealand within hours of the distillery.
The distillery, which sits within Victoria Forest Park, New Zealand’s largest conservation park, is surrounded by the lush West Coast rainforest and enjoys uninterrupted views of farmland, the golf course and the stunning Paparoa and Victoria Ranges.
The building houses the brew house and still room, grain store, warehouse, and bottling hall. The grain is milled, mashed and fermented on-site in Reefton, before being double pot distilled in traditional, copper pot stills, which were handcrafted in Tasmania, Australia.
The spirit cuts (the careful selection of the prime spirit for maturation) are sensory-based and wholly reliant on the distillers' experience and mastery. Only the finest spirit is selected for cask, and each aspect of the process influences the finished, refined profile of the whisky.
The spirit that is created from the second distillation is called ‘new make spirit’ and can only become New Zealand Whisky after it has matured for a minimum of two years in Oak casks in New Zealand. Reefton Distilling Co. are maturing in 200L casks, and its first expression will be released at year three.
Resting on-site at the foot of the Paparoa and Victoria ranges, the terroir and proximity to the rainforest play a significant role in imparting the desired characteristics to Moonlight Creek Whisky. While Reefton’s climate is comparable to Scotland and ideal for maturing whisky, as whisky has not matured on the West Coast for many decades, the exact time from being laid down to bottling is unknown. However, Reefton Distilling Co.’s Scottish specialists believe that with Reefton’s cold winters and hot summers, a 200L cask equivalent to that of a 10-year aged Scotch, will be ready for bottling between six to eight years.
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